Between Two Worlds Kafadar.pdf

emirates of the region in the 1330s, he described Orhan as "the superior of all
the Türkmen emirs in terms of land, army, and wealth."[42] It ought to be
remembered, however, that the Arab traveler was in the area before Umur Beg of
Aydin (r. 1334-48) undertook his most daring and lucrative raids, which seem to
have made him the most illustrious gazi leader for a while and propelled him to
play a role in the factional struggles of Byzantine imperial government. Orhan
came into this scene somewhat later, but once he did, he made full use of the
advantages offered by the position and the internal political strength of his
emirate mentioned by the two Arab authors who described it.
However, all the strategic advantages and circumstantial opportunities would not
have meant anything had the Ottomans not acted upon them with some vision,
though this vision was probably redefined and sharpened along the way. It is not
possible to say much with certainty here for the period when Osman was beg, but
obviously his hold over the tribe continued while the tribe itself kept
changing. Marriage alliances were struck with at least two important neighbors,
an influential dervish and a Christian tekvur. Another tekvur from a neighboring
village joined the warriors under Osman's command and eventually convened to
Islam. Aspiring youths were invited from different parts of Anatolia to join in
military undertakings and some were undoubtedly incorporated. Raids also
produced slaves, some of whom became trusted members of the chieftainship, as in
the case of Balabancik, who is said to have been assigned important duties in
the siege of Bursa. It is also reported, though there is no way of verifying
this for the earliest periods, that gentle treatment of subjects lured peasants
from other areas (or those who had fled?) to settle in the lands under Osman's
control. Later archival documents contain records of donations of land or
revenue made by Osman to dervishes and, in larger numbers, to fakihs , who seem
to have served as imam-judges but were overshadowed by the better-educated kadis
later in the fourteenth century.[43]
There were hostilities with some of the neighbors such as the menacing House of
Germiyan and Tatar tribes in the vicinity. And some of the other relations could
not be maintained on neighborly terms, as symbiotic as they once may have been,
when political aspirations led to raids and more serious military undertakings
like sieges and conquests of fortified towns. In all these ventures, Osman and
his warriors acted with
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good tactical and strategic sense that eventually led them to take control over
Bithynia. Halil Inalcik has recently demonstrated that Osman's conquests show a
dear military logic.[44]
By the mid-1320s the Ottomans had a complex enough military-administrative
structure to have struck coins in their own name, to assign offices to slaves
and eunuchs, to establish waqfs, to issue written documents (in Persian), and to
gain possession of as important a city as Bursa. But the most important
breakthrough for the chieftaincy in those years may well be that it survived
Osman's death without a loss to the integrity of the polity. There may have been
some angry voices and some objections, but for all we know, Orhan replaced his
father with the realm intact. Since Orhan was not the only son, why were Osman's
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